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Abstract: It is now well-known that high suction pressures develop along the leading edges of the building due to the formation of corner vortices when the wind is incident at oblique angles. These high suction pressures can damage the roof surface, which may even result in total failure. This paper gives the results from experiments carried out on 1:100 scale models of the Texas Tech University Test Building in a wind tunnel under different flow conditions. Both sharp-edged models and round-edged models were used to conduct flow and turbulence experiments. The results from flow visualization experiments reveal that there exists a separation and recirculation region on roof top at normal incidence and corner vortices form at oblique incidence with different magnitudes of rounding of roof edges influencing the turbulence levels and flow differently. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

It is now well known that large suction pressures develop along the leading edges of a building when the wind is incident at oblique angles due to the formation of corner vortices. It is not uncommon for this large suction pressure to cause localized destruction, which may even result in the total failure of roofs. A research team lead by Mehta at Texas Tech University carried out wind-pressure measurements on a full-scale low-rise building [1,2]. These measurements are expected to provide many reliable and high-quality data concerning pressure on a low-rise building. The objective here is to make a comparative study of the pressures on the building using 1:100 scale models. The height of the Texas Tech building is only 4 m, which is usually considered a low-rise building height, and the data is applied to all the other buildings around that height. The idea of the study here is to investigate whether the changes in height is affecting the building pressures or not. The experimental results revealed a considerable effect on surface pressures due to changes in the height from 4 m to 6 m and 7 m, both at normal and oblique incidences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]